


The Hero and the Assassin

by FrankieQuinn13



Series: Leo-Overs [1]
Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Lab Rats (TV 2012), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Winter Soldier (Comics)
Genre: Age Difference, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Sexual Content, Infidelity, M/M, Memory Loss, Pre-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Romance, post Bionic Rebellion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-02
Updated: 2016-03-02
Packaged: 2018-05-24 08:18:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6147463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrankieQuinn13/pseuds/FrankieQuinn13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Things between Chase and Leo have been kinda tense for the passed few months, but things started looking up and Chase thought that maybe they were finally getting back on track; until a body washes up on the beach at the Bionic academy and things are never the same again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Hero and the Assassin

**Author's Note:**

> I started this series because I love love love Leo
> 
> The first part of this one is set Pre-Winter soldier and the last part is post-Age of Ultron just before Civil war
> 
> Apologies spelling, grammar and OOCness
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters discussed in this fic in any way whatsoever.

Chase has known for the past few days, not long at all and they really weren't doing much at the time but he knows what he saw in the mentor's dorm the first time he walked in on them.

They were on the couch where Leo used to sleep, laughing and talking the way that Chase and Leo used to do before all of this happened. Well Leo was laughing, _he_ didn't really seem to do more than smirk or chuckle occasionally which wouldn't seem like much in any other normal situation but for him it was different. _He_ usually didn't show any kind of emotion and kept away from everyone else. But he wasn't like that with Leo. With Leo he would always smile and his eyes would go soft whenever the boy laughed, like he lived to hear Leo make that sound.

As Chase paused by the door to watch them, he felt his chest tighten when Leo leaned over to rest his head on the man's shoulder as he bent over from laughter. The man just gave a snort as he stared down at the boy but his eyes softened the way they always did, those dark sharp blades dulled and melted and Chase felt…

Upset.

But he can't be or rather he shouldn't be.

Leo's just moving on and no matter how much Chase wanted to be, he couldn't be upset. After all, Leo didn't get upset when Chase left him for Sebastian.

There's a lot Chase regrets about the brief episode he had with his ex-bff, everything from telling Sebastian about his creators death to actually giving the evil teen the codes to unlock all of his abilities. For the first time in a very long time Chase can admit that he had been stupid, but Sebastian honestly had him fooled so well that he didn't see the danger until it was too late. However, what Chase regrets the most was pushing Leo away during the whole ordeal.

There had been some feelings brewing between them since before they moved to the bionic island. Feelings that turned into more than just feelings once they got away from Mission Creek and Tasha and Janelle and every other social teenage issue they had to deal with and suddenly all they had to deal with were missions and training, and they've been dealing with those things since forever. Acknowledging those feelings got easier, the hugs got longer and Leo always lingered a little longer after training even after everyone else had left. Eventually they shared a first kiss, in the mentors dorm long after Adam and Bree had fallen asleep and it seemed like that was all she wrote.

But then Sebastian happened.

They started out as nothing more than friends, honest.

Well enemies first and then friends, but that really doesn't matter either way right? Cheating's cheating, doesn't matter how you look at it, although Chase really didn't mean to.

It was just so easy with Sebastian, they had so much in common and then they started spending more time together. It was never that easy with Leo. Sebastian was probably the only person that didn't make fun of his nerdiness or bossiness or his slightly obsessive ways. He praised Chase told him all the time how great he was and somehow during all of that he forgot about Leo. Leo joked and teased with the rest of them, he never let Chase get away with anything. It was frustrating on most days but exactly what he needed to keep him grounded on others.

But Chase forgot that and then suddenly he was kissing Sebastian in the mentors dorm after everyone else was asleep. Leo walked in and caught them, but instead of freaking out the way that Chase thought he would, the boy just gave a strained smile as he excused himself and went to get ready for bed.

The super genius tried to explain but Leo just shook his head and said that it was fine, it's not like they were officially a couple anyway. Just brothers that got a little too close.

 _Brothers that got too close._ Chase hated the way that sounded and how Leo's eyes went cold when he said it, but he didn't push for fear of making an already bad situation worse. The next few days were a little awkward but they quickly fell into a routine that worked. Leo moved into his own room and joined Adam's team and started spending more time around the other academy students, he and Bree got close and it seemed like the speedster was finally starting to enjoy the whole big sister role. Chase and Sebastian got closer and things between them reached levels of intensity that left the super genius feeling a little overwhelmed at times, which sort of explains how Sebastian managed to pull the wool over his eyes so flawlessly.

By the time that Chase realized his mistake it was too late and both mr. Davenport and Leo's lives were in danger and Chase hated himself for it.

Things worked out of course and everyone was safe, the other bionic children's fears were laid to rest and it seemed like everything was back to normal, but things between him and Leo were never really the same. They got close again but it wasn't the way it was before and Chase berated himself for fucking up so badly. Months passed and many many disasters hit the bionic island, including the near energy catastrophe that left him in a temporary coma. Things got better between them and Chase almost thought that there might be a chance for him and Leo until just two weeks ago.

A body washed up on the beach of the island, along with some rubble and debris from what looked like the remains of some kind of submarine. When they went to check it out they found that the man was still alive but pretty bruised up so Mr. Davenport decided to take him to the medical bay so he could get healed and maybe they could get some answers once the man woke up. It was all very strange, after all they were in the middle of the ocean, they were too far out for anyone to just wash up on the beach without setting off any of the Davenport industries sensors they had set up around the island. After getting him inside they realized that the man had a mechanical prosthetic arm and the Davenport brothers lost their ever loving minds.

Apparently that kind of prosthetic technology was something they'd only theorized but found no way to test out due to all those pesky human rights laws claiming that cutting off a part of someone's body just to replace it with a mechanical prosthetic and testing it out on them was cruel and unusual punishment. Douglas swore up and down that he was all for going ahead with the experiments anyway but Donnie repeatedly refused and Krane's interests only went as far as implanting himself with bionics not slowly changing his body into that of a robot. Something that had all of the Davenports surprised since Krane seemed psychotic enough to want just that. But I digress.

Donald and Douglas spent the next few days tinkering with the mystery man's arm while he healed, all the time surprised that he seemed to be healing so quickly. It was like his DNA itself had been altered for advanced healing and strength. It took a couple of hours and three blood tests to figure out that, that was indeed the case and they soon realized that they might be dealing with some kind of escaped government experiment but they couldn't be sure until the man actually woke up.

Which he did, two days later.

It all happened too fast for Chase to really understand, first he was in a training room with one of his teams and the next sirens went off all around the island announcing an emergency in the docking bay. When he got there, at least fifty of the other students were there already along with Adam and Bree, but the man's attention seemed to be directed at Leo who was staring back at the man with a smug grin on his face.

He then looked around to see himself surrounded before raising his arms-well just his right arm-up in surrender and allowing himself to be taken back to the medical bay. _Allowed_ being the appropriate word here since the look in the man's eyes said that the man was a lot more intelligent and a lot more dangerous than any of them could possibly know but for the moment he realized that he was outnumbered so he'd play along, at least for now.

The man's name was Andrew Sullivan, he wouldn't tell them where he came from just that he worked for a scientist whose name he wouldn't reveal in a place he wouldn't talk about and he was out on an errand for something he also wouldn't talk about before he had an accident that he couldn't quite recall. He was trying to leave because his scientist friend would get worried if he didn't return after a certain period of time. Can anyone else say shady as fuck?

Douglas however ran his name through an FBI database. He'd actually gotten really good at hacking the FBI for obvious reasons and found the man's profile, name face and all. But for some reason that Andrew refused to explain, he had no finger prints that they could scan in either but that didn't really seem to matter since his story seemed to check out. Of course they couldn't find anything about his current employer or where he lived but he seemed incredibly eager to leave and get as far away from the island as possible, despite the injuries he hadn't quite healed from and the damage to his prosthetic. At the promise that they'd heal his arm first and then let him go, Andrew gave an amused snort and said that he could have his arm repaired once he got home, wherever that is. Leo stepped up just then, practically brimming with questions about the man's arm before proudly showing off his bionic arm. When the boy mentioned the fact that his arm was bionic some kind of light went off in the man's eyes as they filled with realization and he gave Leo a sideways look before yet again saying that he really needed to leave.

It's only after Mr. Davenport suggested calling in the FBI to come pick him up and take him home that he agreed to have his arm repaired, something that set off red flags in all of their heads but no one said anything about, instead choosing to play nice while making sure that all of the security systems were in working order.

Andrew healed quickly and Mr. Davenport and Douglas actually managed to figure out the prosthetic arm and fix it fairly quickly as well. In that time Andrew had figured out every loophole, soft spot and weak-link in the bionic island's security system. Chase could tell by the way the man was always watching, how his eyes always seemed to zero in on a hidden camera or invisible security wire. The super genius guessed that it would only be a matter of time until he escaped and they would be none the wiser. But the thing is, he didn't leave.

Two weeks later, he was still there and it wasn't hard to guess why.

The answer was right there in the middle of the training room right at that moment.

Leo was on his back on the mat in the middle of the training room with his arms locked tight around the neck of the man hovering above him with their lips locked in a passionate kiss. Andrew broke it suddenly breathing hard as he stared down at the boy beneath him, Chase couldn't see his face though, he just saw how the long locks of hair that hung around his face moved with each breath.

The man said something, something that was too soft to hear and went too quickly before Chase could remember to use his bionic hearing and Leo just smiled.

"I know what I want." The boy said breathlessly before he just pulled Andrew down all over again and this time the man let one of his hands drift down to rest on Leo's side as he leaned down onto him a little more. Leo shivered visibly when the hand on his waist slid up under his shirt and cold metal drifted over his skin.

Chase flinched, again, Leo's moving on and it's his right to do so but Chase couldn't help but feel a little betrayed that he was.

As previously mentioned, this has been going on for a while, but Chase didn't realize how bad it was till a few days ago. Before Leo just showed a natural amount of interest in the mystery man, after all he had a prosthetic arm just like Leo and his bionic arm plus after the whole mighty med thing where Leo discovered that super heroes actually exist, Leo's fascination really didn't seem that out of place.

At first Leo seemed to be doing nothing more than annoying the man since he preferred to be alone than put up with some skinny little kid who's obsession with comic book heroes just wouldn't die. But then Andrew actually started paying attention, watching Leo during his training sessions with Bree and not showing half as much annoyance towards the boy as he usually did whenever he showed in the medical bay.

Suddenly all the progress Chase made with Leo over the past few months seemed pointless since Leo just didn't have any time for him anymore. All his time was spent training and when he wasn't training he was with Andrew.

Mr. Davenport said that Leo probably just felt closer to Andrew because of his arm, they had something in common that no one else on the island did and Mr. Davenport really didn't see a problem with them spending so much time together, despite Andrew's still mysterious origins since Leo's performance had been improving since he arrived. Adam was ecstatic since that meant that his group's performance was improving and Bree just seemed happy that Leo was happy. Leo had been off the past few months, she could tell but he wouldn't tell her what was wrong so she didn't push. He's started doing better these days so she figured that Andrew was a good influence. Chase was the only one that seemed concerned with exactly how close Leo was getting to the older man but he just chalked it up to unjustified jealousy since he royally screwed up with Sebastian. Unfortunately his concerns had been justified.

Now the only thing that's left to ask is what he was going to do about it.

A big part of him, that jealous angry guilty part of him wanted to storm in there tare them apart and scream about how wrong it was. Because Andrew's obviously too old for Leo and Leo didn't know a thing about the man. He thought about threatening to tell Tasha if Leo didn't stop and finally calling the FBI like they should have from the start if Andrew didn't leave.

Those thoughts were a little satisfying, they made his adrenaline pump a little faster and his anger burn a little warmer before he just took a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh, because a small part of him, the rational part of him knew that Leo would never forgive him if he did that. It's his own fault after all, none of this would have happened if he hadn't fallen for Sebastian's tricks so he couldn't act all spiteful and petty now just cause Leo was finally moving on. Besides Andrew isn't hurting Leo, not yet anyway and Leo said _he knows what he wants_ , putting to rest any doubts he might have had that Leo wasn't the one who made the first move and or that he was just being manipulated.

After all if Andrew wanted to sabotage them he could've done it at any point in the time that he was at the academy. The fact that he hadn't yet and stuck close to Leo's side made it clear that his reasons for staying had very little to do with destroying the academy or hurting any of them. In fact the island's never been more peaceful.

Leo would never forgive him if he made Andrew leave, he'd be mortified if he walked in on them right now so instead Chase just took another deep breath and walked away. Fighting back against the urge to look back when Leo suddenly gasped,

"James."

James? Was that a middle name that they didn't know abou-

It doesn't matter because it's not his place. He had his place and he screwed up. Leo deserves to be happy and Chase wasn't about to ruin that for him again.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

There's no real reason why he hasn't left yet. The target was neutralized and the injuries he sustained during his mission were all healed. He should have left the moment that Davenport finished the repairs on his arm. Actually he should have left long before that, as soon as he was able to move on his own but he didn't.

His reasons for staying are illogical, Barnes knows that but he couldn't find it in himself to leave just yet, despite his orders.

"I still can't get over how cool this thing is."

The boy beside him said as he let his fingers trail across his prosthetic arm with nothing less than pure wonder in his eyes and voice and James felt his lips twitch in a slight smile before just looking back out over the ocean. "I'm glad someone thinks so."

James didn't have to look to know that the boy was rolling his eyes at him. "That was meant to be a compliment, you're supposed to accept it and say, _'thank you'_. I don't give those out for free, you know."

"So you're expecting some kind of reward for thinking my arm is cool."

"No," Another eye roll, "but a little appreciation would be nice, Drew."

The older man glanced back at the boy beside him before he spoke, "Thanks kid."

"Was that so hard?" Leo said with a nod before his lips slipped into a pout he's sure the boy wasn't aware he was making, "Now all I have to do is get you to stop calling me kid and you'll be fully trained and _maybe_ big D'll let me keep you."

Andrew gave a soft snort before just looking out over the ocean all over again.

Andrew isn't his real name; it's just the name that he was given when he received his mission. But Leo didn't have to know that. Not that he really even needs a name anyway. He's a soldier, his only priority is fulfilling his master's ambitions. Nothing else matters. He'll have to get back to headquarters soon since his mission is set to end in the next few days. Sometimes when he went out on missions he'd have to lay low for a while before heading back, so HYDRA didn't get too concerned when he didn't immediately return after a mission, but he'll have to get back before the missions due date.

James' mission was the same as all the others he's been on before, he was sent to eliminate a threat to HYDRA's empire and the target had in fact been eliminated. He even finished a whole three[ weeks ahead of schedule. Apparently his masters overestimated the security surrounding their enemy and agent Barnes had two bullets buried in the man's brain within the first two days of leaving headquarters.

The problem only came in on his way back from his mission. He was travelling in his transport, a jet powered submarine capable of avoiding every method of detection and tracking known to man. Unfortunately he underestimated the speed of an incoming sperm whale and ended up seriously damaging both the sub and himself in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The sub slowly started to fill with water, his prosthetic arm started glitching and eventually he passed out from blood loss.

When he came to he was lying in a cot in the middle of what looked like a medical bay. He wasn't on a respirator and most of his injuries seemed to have healed, the only problem seemed to be his prosthetic. The mechanical arm was open exposing the precious circuitry inside. Obviously someone had been fiddling with it, but couldn't remove the prosthetic for fear of damaging the nerves that connected the arm to his body.

For a moment Barnes worried that he might have been compromised, but judging from the scattered blueprints and notes lying on a table beside his bed whoever was messing around with his arm hadn't managed to figure out anything about him or how to fix his arm just yet.

Barnes immediately tried to make his escape, sealing the arm shut all over again before grabbing his clothes to make his escape. As he made his way through the facility he caught sight dozens of kids all over the place all wearing the same clothes, leading him to believe that he was in a school of some sort. But none of that mattered all that mattered was getting back to base. He managed to get to a docking bay where he unfortunately ran into a boy.

That's the first time he met Leo.

Skinny, short and shocked half to death, but he didn't look scared.

Surprised yes but not scared. The kid stepped forward and asked him where he was going, but Barnes didn't answer. Mission or not, he wasn't in the habit of hurting kids so he just walked right by him and headed straight for one of the subs they had parked in the docking bay to make his escape. But then the kid got stupid and tried to stop him, he grabbed the assassin's arm to stop him short, Barnes shook him off fairly easily and the kid hit the floor. But then he got up again and grabbed his arm all over again, only this time Barnes couldn't just shake him off as the kid suddenly spun around and threw James across the room and right into a wall on the opposite side. This time it was James' turn to freeze for a full moment in total shock.

"You're not going anywhere."

Suddenly an alarm rang loudly all around them and seconds later ten more kids appeared out of nowhere surrounding him just before the doors opened and the docking bay was flooded with more kids and he realized that he wasn't in a normal school.

Outnumbered by about fifty to one under normal circumstances James would probably be able to fight his way through but his arm was damaged and he clearly wasn't dealing with normal kids so he let himself be led back to the med bay. If only so he could get a moment to regroup and find another way out.

Once there he found out that he was in a school for bionic superhuman children, James had frowned since he hadn't been briefed on any such fascility before he went on his mission but then again his mission didn't require any information on that so that really wasn't so surprising. What was surprising was when he found out that the kid that attacked him wasn't like the others, he had bionics too but only in his arm. Apparently his arm was damaged and almost rendered useless in a run in with one of Davenport's enemies so to save it they put bionics in it.

That explained a whole lot.

There was something about Leo, something that reminded James of someone he used to know a long time ago he just couldn't remember exactly who. And his story of almost losing his arm and needing a bionic upgrade, it made something itch briefly in the back of his mind but for the life of him he couldn't figure out exactly what.

Either way, the kid didn't really matter, none of them did. His only priority was getting back to HYDRA nothing more nothing less.

James just gave Leo a side glance before expressing his need to leave but then the Davenports started asking questions and some words like FBI and government intervention were thrown around and James reluctantly agreed to stay. Not that he couldn't spring himself from any government fascility he was placed in, it just wouldn't do to draw any more attention to himself than what was absolutely necessary.

So he stayed and healed. The Davenport brothers actually figured out his arm pretty quickly and managed to repair it good as new. In that time he watched his surroundings and started picking apart that so called impenetrable security bit by bit while Leo kept popping up, asking one question after another and being a general pain.

The kid meant well though, so as annoying as it was having someone around James let Leo stick around and eventually he started growing on the older man.

There was something about Leo; James would watch the kid train with his siblings and the other students sometimes. Watch as the skinny, short kid sparred with the others and do so much better than James could have ever expected. Not to mention the fact that Leo was always so incredibly confident in everything he did, always with that bright smile even when he was clearly outmatched and inevitably lost due to said incredible confidence. Of course Leo would always just brush it off later in a claim that he totally meant to do that.

Underdog. That's the word that always comes to mind when he thinks of Leo and then his head would start nagging him all over again, like he was supposed to remember something when he looked at Leo. But he just couldn't.

So he spent more time with the kid, hoping that he could figure out what all that nagging meant, why the story of Leo losing his arm was supposed to mean more to him. Days passed and he hadn't figured it out, but then again he hadn't been thinking about it too deeply as of late.

Instead he thought about the boy himself and admittedly it was… fun.

Leo was fun, the kid has spunk and James was maybe starting to enjoy having the kid's attention on him just a little bit. So he didn't leave.

He knows what's waiting for him when he gets back to HYDRA. First he'll be debriefed on his mission, then they'll check his injuries and the damage to his arm before… before-

James isn't so sure about that last part, he just knows that it's cold. Ice cold and isolated, he's alone for so long although he isn't exactly sure why. He just knows that he isn't ready to go back to that place just yet.

From what Agent Barnes knows, this is probably the longest that he's ever been away from HYDRA. It didn't take him three weeks to complete a mission, even when his mission allowed for that much time to pass for completion. It usually took three days, five days tops before he got back to HYDRA. He's never been away from his masters for this long, so he's never had this much time to actually think about more than just the mission before going back. But now that he does, he couldn't help but think about the cold, that lonely cold that waited for him with his masters the second that he got back. It was so different from the warmth he could feel on Leo's skin every time the boy touched him, the warm soft breaths against his neck whenever Leo leaned into him or fell asleep next to him in the med bay. A steady heartbeat he could almost feel if Leo got close enough.

It's times like those that he'd almost pause to think about his masters and how they'd feel about the thoughts running through his mind right at that moment.

James Barnes is a soldier dedicated to the realization of HYDRA's empire, nothing more nothing less, he wasn't meant to think too deeply much less worry about the world his masters seek to build and exactly where one child with a special arm would fit in all of that. After all, Leo didn't exactly fit into the profile of the perfect Aryan youth. No, his skin is too dark, his hair wasn't right and his eyes were the wrong color. Very few kids at the bionic academy actually fit that profile, no matter how talented they were, at most they could maybe be soldiers, grunt workers to HYDRA's cause but they'd never be more than that.

Thing is, James wasn't so sure how comfortable he was with that anymore. He liked Leo's skin, it reminded him of warmth, a heat that he wouldn't feel once he got back to the cold. It's a ridiculous thought to have for someone who was meant to be the winter soldier, but it's one of the reasons why he hasn't left just yet, Leo's warmth. A warmth he wanted more of but didn't do anything about since he knew how wrong it was, not just cause Leo's so young but because Leo had other issues that he hadn't addressed yet and was trying to ignore. James knows that Leo wouldn't be opposed to him getting closer, but he also didn't want to just jump in and become another complication in the boy's already complicated life. Especially since he knew that he wasn't going to be sticking around either way. Despite his newly discovered doubts, he has to go back to HYDRA no matter what, if he doesn't his mission is incomplete and that just cannot happen.

"Keep me. So I'm your pet now, huh?" James said as he glanced down at the boy and Leo cocked his head to the side, "No not a pet, but if you stick around long enough I'll make you my trusty side-kick _the left handed wonder_."

James gave a snort as he turned so he was fully facing the boy, "You realize how dirty that sounds right?"

Leo frowned for a moment when realization dawned in his eyes and James could almost feel the flush of heat rushing up to Leo's face as he glared and punched the man's side. "I do now, perve."

James chuckled and Leo rolled his eyes, "O.K then what do you want your side-kick name to be?"

"I don't need a side-kick name."

"Why not? You already have an alias what's the harm in having a superhero name too?"

James frowned at the boy and Leo rolled his eyes, "Oh please, like you're real name is actually Andrew Sullivan. Exactly how stupid do you think I am?"

The agent almost froze for a full moment, "How long?"

"Since you started checking out the island's security and counting every single surveillance camera in the building." Leo said simply with a shrug, "I'm not the only one that's noticed."

James has heard stories around the academy, about how Leo figured out all of Davenport's enemies before anyone else. How he protected his siblings in the beginning and actually managed to outsmart some of the people that tried to go after the bionic kids. He knows that Leo's smart, he just didn't realize how smart.

"So," Leo started as pulling James from his thoughts with a grin, "Are you going to tell me your real name or do I have to keep calling you Drew?"

James turned back so he was facing the window again, "What does it matter?"

"It doesn't, but it'd be kinda nice to know at least one thing about you."

"I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"Because I'd have to kill you if I did." James whispered putting just enough depth into his voice for it to sound dramatic despite the honesty behind that statement and Leo just barked a laugh, "Yeah right, if you wanted to kill me you would've done it by now."

The agent looked back at the boy with a blank expression, "How can you be so sure?"

"Well you lied about your name, so you probably lied about your arm and where you got it the only reason you'd do that is if you did something for a living that would require you to lie." Leo explained simply, "So that would either make you a superhero in disguise, a secret agent, or an assassin. You don't really strike me as the hero type, you know unlike me, no offense. Secret agent is likely but with that arm and the bruises you had on you when you washed up on the beach I'd definitely guess assassin."

James just stared at the boy with his eyebrows raised when Leo looked up at him in question, "So am I right?"

"Maybe."

Leo grinned, "I knew it."

"You're not scared?"

"Why should I be, it's not like you're going to hurt me."

James took in a deep breath as he stared out over the ocean, "How can you be so sure?"

Leo rolled his eyes and gave a sigh of exasperation, "Cause, if you wanted me dead you would've done it by now. Are all assassins this slow?"

"You're an arrogant brat you know that?" James said and Leo just smiled, "Whatever grandpa. Are you gonna tell me something real now or not?"

"Not."

"Drew-"

"But I can show you something instead." The older man said and Leo looked up at him in confusion. "Show me what?"

"I'm getting sick of watching you get your ass kicked in training every day."

Leo sputtered for a moment before he quickly collected himself. "O.K in my defense Bree has me sparring against Adam sized super speedsters."

James barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes, "That's no excuse kid."

The boy just gave a huff, "What does any of that have to do with this?"

"You wanna know something real. I'll show you." James said shoving both hands into his pockets as he turned around and started walking away from the balcony back down the hall and Leo watched him for a moment before letting out a sigh.

"This dark mysterious stranger act is getting old, Drew."

James didn't turn back, "So you're not coming?"

The boy rolled his eyes as he jogged to catch up to the other man. "Fine, but you'd better make this worth my while."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The teen's legs were swept out from underneath him and he started crashing to the ground only for something else to press down on his back and follow along with him, forcing his fall to go even faster. Leo hit the ground hard, with no more than the thin training matt beneath him to cushion the impact when his right arm was grabbed and held in place by an arm made of metal and a knee kept his lower back pinned to the ground.

"You lose again."

"Argh," Leo complained as he turned his head to the side so he was breathing a little easier, "How are you faster than Bree?"

"I'm not, you just suck at this." James said with an amused smirk and he could feel Leo let out a heavy breath beneath him as finished, "I could kill you in at least seven different ways like this, what do you do now?"

"Seven huh? And for some reason you won't admit to the fact that you're an assassin."

"Cut the wise cracks and do something."

Another sigh Leo moved a little, testing the grip around his right arm, "I can't do anything without seriously hurting you."

"Somehow I doubt that."

"You think I can't?"

James gave a scoff as he leaned down to whisper against Leo's ear. "You can try."

James felt a shiver run down Leo's spine before the boy just huffed out a breath, "Don't say I didn't warn you."

Leo's hand twisted around in his grip again, not enough to break out but more than enough to turn it up before his palm started glowing and the agent's eyes went wide. As the glow grew into a sphere James immediately pulled away, releasing the teen in shock when he was suddenly knocked down onto his back. Leo pinned both the agent's arms above his head as he straddled his waist with a grin.

"Now you lose."

James blinked for a moment in slight surprise at his new position before looking up at the teen, "That was a dirty trick."

"Well you know what they say, _it's not cheating if you win_ , or at least that's what Douglas says anyway." The older man chuckled and Leo's head gave a tilt as he spoke, "You know, taking a good look at you, you don't really look like an Andrew. So what is your name?"

The agent's face fell but he made no attempt to get out of Leo's grip, "I don't see why that matters."

"It doesn't bother you that people don't call you by your real name?"

"Why would it?" Leo gave a slight shrug, "If you like someone, if you care about them, you'd want them to say your name wouldn't you? I mean unless it's something embarrassing-"

"Like Francis?"

Leo glared, "Answer the question."

"Yeah."

"So why not tell me?"

"You think I like you enough for that?"

"Please, everyone likes me." James huffed out an annoyed sigh, "You're too cocky for your own good."

Leo leaned down so they were less than an inch apart as he looked the man in the eyes and the older man had to suppress a shiver at the heat that radiated from Leo's form, which somehow felt so much warmer now than it had a few moments ago. "What's your name?"

A beat of silence

"James Barnes."

"James." Leo's head gave a tilt and he smiled, "It suits you."

James sighed, "You realize I'm going to have to kill you now right?"

"Maybe, but you won't."

James arched a brow up at the boy with a frown, "Why not?"

Leo then closed the distance between them with a kiss. James froze for the briefest of moments until he moved his lips against the ones pressed against his own. Leo's grip on his hands weakened when the older man pried his mouth open to deepen the kiss and instead of pulling away James flipped them over and Leo gasped when his back hit the mat for what had to be the tenth time that night before letting out a moan as his arms wrapped themselves around James' neck. But just as suddenly as they started James pulled away.

"Leo-"

"What?" the boy breathed still a little bit dazed and James took a deep breath, besides the obvious reasons for stopping he could feel another pair of eyes on them. There was another presence nearby but it didn't feel too threatening so he just shook his head and focused on the teen. "We should stop. You don't know what you're doing, this isn't what you want."

"I know what I want." James opened his mouth to protest when Leo just pulled him down all over again and this time the older man gave in, if only a little. Leo let out a moan and a shiver ran down his spine when James' prosthetic ran down over his shirt and slipped in underneath. For a moment, James was almost surprised that he didn't feel anything from his left hand regardless of the fact that it was made from metal. It was designed to react to electric impulses from his mind running through his spinal cord the way that a normal arm was meant to do, he just couldn't feel anything from it. Unlike the right hand he had resting on Leo's hip, right over the hem of his pants, it went from rough due the feeling of the boy's jeans to soft and warm skin underneath the pad of his thumb. It was a sobering thought, the fact that he wasn't quite normal, which reminded him of exactly how he came to wash up at the academy and how very bad it would be if anyone at HYDRA found out about this.

"James." Leo gasped when the older man pulled away yet again breathing hard as he stared down at the boy.

"Wait."

"What's wrong?" A few things, but James couldn't tell Leo about that so he took a deep breath and suddenly remembered the presence he'd felt earlier but that was gone now. Even in a school filled with more than a hundred kids, it wasn't hard trying to guess who it might be. It was an issue Leo's been ignoring for some reason.

"What about Chase?"

Leo's eyes immediately cleared and he fell back against the floor, "What about Chase?"

"There's something going on between you two isn't there?" Leo sighed and looked away. "You are such a mood killer."

"Leo-"

"No, there's nothing going on between me and Chase." Leo growled, sounding agitated and James frowned when the teen finished, "Not anymore."

"What happened?"

"It doesn't matter."

James' eyes narrowed down at him, "You can preach all about honesty to me but you won't tell the truth."

"All I know about you is your name."

"That was enough for _this_ wasn't it?" James growled as he looked down between them and Leo let his arms fall down to the ground and stared up at him with an indescribable expression on his face. "Or are you used to fooling around with people you barely know-"

"No."

"Then what-"

"He cheated on me, O.K?!" Leo suddenly snapped and James sat still as the boy took in a heavy breath before just giving a snort, "Although I guess it's not really cheating since we weren't exactly together, but he picked someone else and that's where it ended. There's nothing going on between us anymore."

There was a brief moment of silence where they just stared at each other and James just knew. "You know, lying to yourself won't make it true."

"I'm not lying to anyone. It's over and all I wanna do right now is move on. Things were great with Chase and then they ended and suddenly it sucked. I just want to feel good again and even though all I know about you is your name, that's how you make me feel. I'm sick of being miserable and pretending like I'm not."

James sighed as he raked a hand through his hair to push back the dark locks hanging over his eyes, "I can't be Chase for you"

"Good, cause Chase isn't what I need right now." It was said matter of a factly, but the cheek and arrogance Leo usually had about him was gone and James couldn't help but lean down to press a kiss against the teen's forehead. It was wrong seeing him like that, in that moment James knew that he would do anything to make that look go away. If anyone at HYDRA ever found out, there would be hell to pay.

That's why he'll have to make sure that they never do.

"What do you need?"

"Someone I can trust." Leo answered with a shuddering breath when James started moving down his jaw onto his neck.

"You don't know anything about me."

"I know you won't hurt me and right now that's enough."

James paused to look up at the boy, there was more emotion in that statement than Leo had probably meant for there to be it almost sounded loving in a way, but it wasn't about love, not really anyway. Leo needed comfort for a broken heart and James… James just wanted to get as close to that warmth as possible before he had to go back to the cold.

That icy isolation.

"I can't stay here, you know that right?"

"It's probably better that way anyway." Leo said with a sigh as he brushed a portion of James' hair behind his right ear. "If you stayed I think I'd actually fall in love with you."

The agent gave a sad smile, "I know I would."

A small smirk started tugging at Leo's lips, "Yeah well it's me so, that's understandable."

This time James couldn't help but roll his eyes, "Brat."

Leo laughed and a smile reached his eyes, "A brat that you obviously like."

"Apparently I find scrawny underdog attractive."

Another laugh and James chuckled when that feeling suddenly came back again, that nagging in the back of his head trying to remind him of something.

Blue eyes and blonde hair.

"Earth to James?" The agent blinked and looked down at the boy who was staring in confusion, "What?"

"Is something wrong?"

James mentally shook his head, "I was thinking maybe we should move this somewhere else, before someone walks in on us."

Leo obviously didn't buy it but he nodded all the same, "Sure, but you sort of killed the mood already so I don't know how-"

The boy was silenced by another kiss but still gasped when he was suddenly swept off the floor.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Andrew Sullivan. Yeah he was here about a year ago but he didn't stay long." The scientist said as he walked through the school checking on students and tinkering with the tablet in his hands every now and then while Steve and Natasha followed.

Donald Davenport is the owner of Davenport industries and the man behind the world's first ever bionic super humans. Well maybe not the first _ever_ but he certainly didn't need to know that.

S.H.I.E.L.D had been keeping their eyes on the Davenports for some time, but they never actually made contact with them until the Ultron disaster a few months back. After all Ultron's army was vast and the Avengers couldn't be protecting people on every corner of the world so S.H.I.E.L.D called in some back up to take care of the smaller side effects of the A.I's attack that they couldn't deal with. The bionic kids didn't get as much attention from the media as the Avengers did but they certainly did their part and S.H.I.E.L.D made sure to keep the bionic school on retainer incase anything just as bad happened again. Of course the super human's occupied most of their time with smaller heroics that the Avengers couldn't attend to as well and S.H.I.E.L.D never tried to interfere.

Steve let his eyes wander around them taking in all the high tech equipment and students training here and there. There were kids moving things with their minds and other's whose hands and eyes seemed to glow. It was all so weird.

But Steve and Natasha didn't go to the bionic academy to watch the kids train; they came to look for clues on Bucky's whereabouts. When S.H.I.E.L.D brought the Davenports on board they were told about a stranger that visited the island and fit Bucky's description. So Steve and Natasha went in ordinary field agents to try and find some answers.

Tensions were incredibly high over the whole HYDRA super assassin thing and Steve just hoped that they would find his best friend before someone else does.

"Andrew Sullivan?" Steve asked in surprise but Natasha spoke before Davenport could read too much into it.

"So he was here, in your academy?"

"One of the kids found him washed up on the beach, bruised up and injured pretty badly. We found some debris from what looked like some kind of sub washed up along with him but we couldn't do much to salvage any of it." The man shrugged as he stopped in front of a console with a holographic wall and started typing in information on the keyboard, "His arm was damaged too but luckily I was able to fix it." The man ended in an arrogant tone that made Steve cringe but Natasha just nodded politely, "Impressive piece of technology, it's too bad we lost the blueprints, they could have been so useful."

"What happened to them?"

"We don't know for sure, they just disappeared." Davenport paused for a moment to look up at them, "Although I'm pretty sure _Andrew's_ the one that made them pull a Houdini. I just can't figure out how he got passed the security system."

Steve frowned, "How can you be so sure it was him?"

"Honestly, the guy was strange. It's not just the fact that he was lying to us the whole time he was here but there was something about him. Something dangerous. I can hardly believe I let him around my kids for that long." The scientist said as he turned away from the holograms and started walking again and Steve cringed all over again.

"Why did you?"

Donald sighed, "He never actually hurt any of the kids while he was here, mostly kept to himself plus Dou-… I wanted the chance to get a closer look at that arm of his and his DNA. It's been altered for enhanced healing, speed and strength. We wanted to make sure we wouldn't be unleashing some kind of international terrorist threat onto the world by letting him go."

Natasha frowned, "Then why not call the authorities?"

The scientist stopped and gave them a dull look, "Are you kidding me? Neither the FBI nor the CIA has what it takes to take down someone like that without it turning into some kind of bloodbath. As messed up as it seems the academy was the only place with the man power to make sure he didn't cause any trouble."

A school filled with bionic superhuman children? Well he does have a point there.

"But you already know that don't you?" Davenport said with an arched brow and Steve blinked in surprise, "He's dangerous and that's why you're asking about him."

Smart man.

"He's a person of interest." Natasha explained, "It's incredibly important that we find him."

Donald gave a shrug as he started walking again, "I'm sorry but I can't help you there. He managed to slip out and steal one of my subs. Got rid of the tracking system and everything. We only found the sub a week later on an island in Barbados but he was long gone by then."

The man stopped in the doorway of what looked like a training room where a group of kids stood by and watched as a pair sparred, when Steve spoke. "What about the kids, did they see anything or-"

"No. no most of the kids just stayed out of his way and he was usually in the med bay anyway so-" Davenport paused and something flashed across his eyes, Natasha caught his look and followed his gaze towards the two sparring in the center of the room. Steve looked up as well.

One kid was kind of short and skinny, while the other was much taller and muscular. Steve almost jumped when the taller teen suddenly shot lasers from his eyes and the other dodged it. The taller teen suddenly moved in a blur to punch the other who surprisingly enough managed to duck out of the way, using his left arm to sweep the taller ones feet out from under him before spinning around to press his right hand onto the other's back and force him to the ground with a loud thud before grabbing his arms to pin them behind his back.

The group cheered and one of the mentor's standing to the side grinned as he took the boy's hand and raised it above his head.

"Impressive." Natasha said honestly and Davenport gave a small smile, "Yeah that's my son Leo, he's been doing really well over the past few months despite being different from all the other kids."

"Different how?" Steve asked and the scientist shifted a little from his spot, "Well Leo isn't like all the others. He was never really meant to have bionics. But there was an incident… and then there was another accident a few months ago. He only has bionics in one arm and one leg."

"Oh." There was shame and regret in the man's eyes as he spoke and Steve realized that they were touching on a sensitive subject when Natasha spoke again. "He's certainly got some talent. That was an impressive move."

"Yeah, it was." Davenport paused before looking away and giving a slight cough, "Look I can't help you find that guy I'm sorry. But feel free to stick around and when you need to leave our head of security can escort you out. I have a conference call to get to."

"Thank you." Natasha said and the man offered them a brief smile as he left the room before she turned towards Steve with a frown, "Looks like he doesn't trust S.H.I.E.L.D as much as he pretends."

"What?"

"He's hiding something."

"Are you sure?"

"I've been an agent long enough to know when I'm being lied to," the redhead said as she looked back towards Leo just as he left the room in the opposite direction while the other kids continued and a new pair stepped into the center. "Whatever it is it has to do with him."

Steve frowned as he watched the boy go, "His son."

"What other reason could he have for lying except to protect his son? The winter soldier is dangerous even, even he saw that."

Steve stared hard at the woman, "Bucky isn't-"

"Winter soldier; is that some kind of code name?" The two turned around and found one of the mentor's standing behind them, one of Davenport's kids. Chase from what Steve remembers.

Natasha internally cursed herself for not realizing that they were being eavesdropped on but kept her face neutral. "I'm sorry but-"

"There's no point in lying. I have superhuman intelligence and bionic senses. I could've heard you talking a hundred yards away." There was no arrogance in that statement, especially not with the concern that burned in the young man's eyes. "So it's a code name?"

"Yes." Steve answered honestly and Chase frowned.

"For Andrew Sullivan."

"For an assassin, we believe might be Andrew Sullivan." Natasha said before Steve could say too much about their true intentions when Chase spoke again, "An assassin. How many people has he killed?"

"We can't disclose that kind of information."

"So, a lot." Chase said simply and Natasha gave a sheepish grin while Steve turned away when Chase sighed, "I knew he was dangerous."

Steve bit down on his tongue before he could speak up in Bucky's defense when the teen gave another sigh, "If I help you, you have to promise Leo won't get hurt."

Steve's head snapped up at that and Natasha took a step forward, "Help us how?"

"I want a guarantee, that Leo won't get hurt and he stays out of this. Whatever's going on won't have anything to do with him." The teen repeated with a stern glare and the redhead nodded, "You have my word, nothing will happen to him."

Chase seemed to swallow hard as he turned and walked back into an empty hallway and they followed until the teen stopped and turned to face them. "Mr. Davenport wasn't telling you the whole truth, but that's just cause we've been burned by government organizations before and-"

"We get it, don't worry." The agent interrupted and Chase gave a slight nod as he continued. "When Andrew-when _he_ -was here he spent most of his time alone but the rest of it he spent with Leo."

Steve frowned while Natasha just nodded for the teen to keep going Chase swallowed again, "I mean whenever Leo wasn't busy he was with Andrew and when Leo trained sometimes Andrew would watch. Leo only had a bionic arm at the time so we figured, since he had a prosthetic that's why they were so close but… but one night I caught them together and when I looked at the surveillance footage the next morning. It showed him going into Leo's room the night before and he didn't come out till the next morning. This happened every night that whole week before he disappeared."

Steve's eyes went wide and he almost gaped. Was Chase implying that-

"They were sleeping together?" Natasha asked completely ignoring Steve's expression of shock and Chase blushed. But it wasn't a flush of embarrassment or even shame on his brother's behalf. There was a hard edge to his gaze now, an anger that was simmering somewhere beneath the surface. Something's obviously going on there, but Natasha wouldn't press random family issues which were irrelevant to their mission anyway.

"I think so." Chase said before taking a deep breath as he raked a hand through his hair, "Look my point is they got really close and one night I heard them talking but Leo didn't call him Andrew he called him James."

Steve tensed and Chase caught the movement as his eyes narrowed down at the man, "Is that his real name?"

"Chase," The woman interrupted quickly to draw his attention away, "Did you hear them talk about anything? Mention a safe house or a place he was headed to."

"No, but I know where he is, where he was a few weeks ago anyway."

Steve stepped forward, "How?"

"Since the Ultron disaster Mr. Davenport's had us keep track of all messages, phone calls, signals basically any and all communications that come anywhere near the island and our hometown on the mainland. In case we were ever compromised the same way." Chase turned back towards the holographic console Davenport was using earlier and started typing, " We didn't start checking communications till the disaster but when we did I noticed how Leo's call logs were all normal for the first few months after Andrew left when a new number suddenly started calling him. Weird thing is it kept changing. There was some kind of encryption embedded on the number, it changed every sixty seconds along with the coordinates for each call. It took me ages to pinpoint it last week but once I did, I also managed to salvage a text; _'I'm sorry - J'_ but then when I tried to track it again, it was like the phone didn't exist anymore. He dumped it obviously but… there."

A series of coordinates suddenly appeared on the holographic screen and Natasha immediately activated the communicator in her ear to give read them over to whoever was listening and Chase sighed, "I doubt they'll be much use to you."

"At least it's something kid." Natasha said with a small smile but Chase just stared back at her, "Remember what you promised, Leo stays out of this. It's not his fault he… I don't care what happens to _'him'_ but he never has anything to do with Leo ever again."

"I'll keep my word." The redhead said and Steve couldn't help but frown at the young man when realization dawned in his eyes but Natasha just grabbed his arm to pull him along, "We should go, thank you for your help."

Chase didn't answer he just turned and walked away while Natasha and Steve went another way. As they neared the water tubes Steve spoke causing the agent to glance back at him.

"Was he just being protective or-"

"He's jealous." Natasha said simply, "He wanted the kid for himself but Bucky got to him before he did. So he served Bucky out on a silver platter in the hopes that we'll make sure he stays out of the way." Steve had a deep frown marring his features, "But... they're brothers."

"Not by blood." The agent looked up at him with an arched brow, "What, surprised?"

"It's just Bucky, I… I never thought, a boy-"

"Is that a problem for you?"

Steve rolled his eyes, "You know the answer to that question. I just, the kid's so young and-"

"His brother says they got close and from the looks of things he cared enough to contact Leo when he got away from HYDRA." Natasha said simply with a silent sigh when they reached the tubes and waited for the doors to open. "If you look at it that way, then at least you know that Bucky hasn't been completely alone all this time. That's gotta feel good right?"

It does of course it does but it was still quite a shock and Steve wasn't quite sure how to deal with it. There would be time of course to sort out his feelings and maybe ask Bucky himself once they find him. But they have to find him first.

"Let's go, Sam's already on his way."

**The End**

**Author's Note:**

> Whatcha think?


End file.
